Workaholic Pros and Cons of Workers That Have to Face

What comes to your mind when you hear the word “workaholic”? Someone who continues to work non-stop or someone who feels he has to keep himself busy with various jobs?

In fact, bringing work home or getting work done outside of working hours has become so commonplace. This sometimes blurs the line between one's leisure time and work time due to the demands to get work done. Even so, workaholics can be viewed from various points of view of the situation.

Definition of workaholic and its characteristics

What is a workaholic, and how is it different from a hard worker? Barbara Killinger, a clinical psychologist from Toronto, in an article in Psychology Today mentions that, unlike hard workers who still make time for others around them, workaholics are obsessed with their performance and work.

Meanwhile, in another source from the Britannica dictionary, workaholic is defined as an addiction to work. A workaholic gets his own satisfaction when he continues to deal with work even though he has the opportunity to take a break.

A number of researchers from the Department of Psychosocial Sciences at the University of Bergen, Norway developed a measurement scale to see whether a person is a workaholic or not. Known as the Work Addiction Scale, the scale identifies the workaholic tendencies of a person's work habits, including:

1. Constantly looking for ways to make time for work

2. Spending more time working than planned

3. Work is done to relieve anxiety, guilt, or helplessness

4. Ignoring suggestions from others to reduce work

5. There is a sense of stress when you can't work

6. More concerned with work matters than pursuing hobbies, relaxing, or exercising

7. Has a negative impact on health due to overwork

If you feel that you are often or always in the above conditions, chances are that you are a workaholic.

An employee is often asked to stay on standby to receive work-related information at night, on weekends, even during holidays. Therefore, it is found that many employees continue to complete work outside of their official working hours.

After the work is finished, a person will stop working and can resume his personal activities. However, people who workaholic often show a sense of devotion to work a little too much.

The workaholic feels as if there is a compulsion that compels him to keep working indefinitely. This makes him tend to ignore his physical condition and keep working even though he feels tired.

Negative Impact of Workaholic Behavior

Workaholic behavior sometimes causes psychosomatic effects on a person when not working, such as feelings of restlessness, difficulty sleeping, and headaches. Psychologically, a workaholic makes a person unable to escape from his work.

This has the potential to have a negative impact on one's health. Work requires energy released by the body. When dealing with deadlines or problems at work, it also triggers stress hormones and increases blood pressure.

People who work non-stop, do not have time to rest and reduce the rhythm of the work of their organs. As a result, the higher the risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and even death compared to people who work normally.

Engaged Workaholic, Positive Workaholic Type

A professor in sociology from the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, Ten Brummelhuis revealed that there are types of workaholic workers who have a lower risk of health problems than most workaholics.

They are the type of engaged workaholic workers who have a connection and love for their work. This is supported by the factor of having a supportive partner at home and co-workers who can also be invited to work together. This condition allows them to manage their work and personal life well.

Moving from one meeting to another, spending time at night to finish work, or thinking hard about achieving achievements at work actually provides motivation and an injection of positive energy for these engaged workaholics.

Not only that, engaged workaholics tend to be free from burnout or feeling stressed with their work. This is because they don't work to relieve their guilt, but they work because they really love their job.

Dealing with Workaholic Behavior

Regardless of the pros and cons of workaholics as described above, every employee is still advised to pay attention to their physical and mental health conditions.

The first step that can be done is to recognize the condition of your own body. If work gets out of control and affects the environment outside of work, it's best to take time off to restore your mind and body.

The next step you can take is to gain control over yourself. Determine the time you can set aside to work outside of working hours. After that, take time for yourself to relax, exercise, or do whatever you like to unwind and relax from work.

Time management at work is very important to be able to make decisions. This will greatly affect the organizational situation of the company. Prasmul eli also designed the Problem Solving and Decision Making program to train someone to always consider rational choices to support the company's vision.